A digital rights management method and device are provided. To implement the DRM method and device, there is provided a master device including a storage module which stores a plurality of rights objects (ROs) having an inheritance structure, a detection module which detects the storage module for an RO needed for playing back a predetermined content object, a message generation module which, if the detection module fails to discover the RO needed for playing back the predetermined content object from the storage module, generates an RO request message, a device interface module which transmits the RO request message to a slave device and receives the RO needed for playing back the predetermined content object from the slave device, and a playback module which plays back the predetermined content object using at least one of the RO detected from the storage module and the RO received from the slave device.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A master device including a non-transitory computer readable medium including modules, the modules comprising: a storage module configured to store a plurality of rights objects (ROs) having a plurality of inheritance structures, the plurality of ROs including parent ROs and child ROs; a detection module programmed to perform a first search of the storage module for a child RO corresponding to a predetermined content object; a message generation module programmed to generate a first RO request message for the child RO when the detection module fails to discover the child RO corresponding to the predetermined content object from the storage module; a device interface module configured to transmit the first RO request message to a slave device and receive the child RO corresponding to the predetermined content object from the slave device; the detection module being further programmed to perform a second search of the storage module for a parent RO corresponding to the predetermined content object, wherein the child RO includes an identifier for identifying the parent RO; the message generation module further programmed to generate a second RO request message for the parent RO when the detection module fails to discover the parent RO from the storage module; the device interface module further configured to transmit the second RO request message to the slave device and receive the parent RO from the slave device; and a playback module programmed to play back the predetermined content object using the child RO received from one of the storage module and the slave device and the parent RO received from one of the storage module and the slave device.
2. The master device of claim 1 , wherein the child RO comprises at least one of an identifier of the predetermined content object, a content encryption key corresponding to the predetermined content object, and constraint information regarding use restriction of the child RO, and wherein the parent RO comprises at least one of the constraint information and permission information regarding playback methods for playing back the predetermined content, the playback methods being obtainable from the child RO.
3. The master device of claim 2 , wherein the master device is programmed to not search for the parent RO when it is determined that the child RO is neither stored in the storage module nor stored in the slave device.
4. The master device of claim 1 , wherein the first RO request message comprises a first identifier of the predetermined content object, the detection module is programmed to detect the child RO from the slave device with reference to the first identifier of the predetermined content object, and the detection module is programmed to search for the parent RO using an inheritance relationship identifier included in the child RO.
5. The master device of claim 1 , wherein the master device is prohibited from playing back the predetermined content object without using the child RO and the parent RO.
6. The master device of claim 5 , wherein the first RO request message comprises a first identifier of the predetermined content object, the second RO request message comprises an inheritance relationship identifier included in the child RO, the child RO is detected from the slave device with reference to the first identifier of the predetermined content object, and the first parent RO is detected from the slave device using the inheritance relationship identifier.
7. The master device of claim 1 , wherein the master device is one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, or a content player device, and the slave device is a storage device including a memory.
8. The master device of claim 7 , wherein the slave device is a memory card.
9. The master device of claim 1 , wherein the slave device is a portable storage device.
10. A method of consuming a plurality of Rights Objects (ROs), the method comprising: obtaining a plurality of ROs having predetermined inheritance structures from a slave device; and playing back a predetermined content object at a master device using at least two of the plurality of ROs, wherein the plurality of ROs comprises at least a first child RO and a first parent RO, the first child RO having a first inheritance relationship with the first parent RO and the first parent RO having a second inheritance relationship with the first child RO, wherein the first child RO comprises at least one of an identifier of the predetermined content object, a content encryption key corresponding to the predetermined content object, and constraint information regarding use restriction of the first child RO, wherein the first parent RO comprises at least one of the constraint information and permission information regarding playback methods for playing back the predetermined content, the playback methods being obtainable from the first child RO, and wherein the obtaining comprises: sending a request for the first child RO to the slave device; sending a separate request for the first parent RO to the slave device; and receiving the first child RO from the slave device and receiving the first parent RO from the slave device; and wherein the playing back comprises playing back the predetermined content object using the first child RO and the first parent RO.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the sending the request for the first child RO comprises transmitting an identifier of the predetermined content object to the slave device, and the first child RO is detected from the slave device with reference to the identifier of the predetermined content object.
12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: prior to sending the request for the first child RO to the slave device, searching on the master device for the first child RO.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the sending the separate request for the parent RO comprises: obtaining an inheritance relationship identifier from the first child RO, the inheritance relationship identifier identifying the first parent RO; and transmitting the inheritance relationship identifier to the slave device, the first parent RO being detected from the slave device using the inheritance relationship identifier.
14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, prior to sending the separate request for the first parent RO to the slave device, searching on the master device for the first child RO.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the sending the separate request for the parent RO comprises: obtaining an inheritance relationship identifier identifying the first parent RO from the first child RO; and transmitting the inheritance relationship identifier to the slave device, and the first parent RO being detected from the slave device using the inheritance relationship identifier.
16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the slave device is a portable storage device.
17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising: detecting that the first child RO is stored in one of the master device and the slave device, and after the detecting, sending the separate request for the first parent RO to the slave device.
18. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: prohibiting the master device from playing back the predetermined content without using the first parent RO and the first child RO.
19. The master device including a non-transitory computer readable medium programmed to perform the steps of: obtaining a plurality of rights objects (ROs) having predetermined inheritance structures from a slave device; and playing back a content object using at least two of the plurality of ROs, wherein the plurality of ROs comprises at least a first child RO and a first parent RO, the first child RO having a first inheritance relationship with the first parent RO and the first parent RO having a second inheritance relationship with the first child RO, wherein the first child RO comprises at least one of an identifier of the content object, a content encryption key corresponding to the content object, and constraint information regarding use restriction of the first child RO, wherein the first parent RO comprises at least one of the constraint information and permission information regarding playback methods for playing back the content, the playback methods being obtainable from the first child RO, and wherein the obtaining comprises: sending a request for the first child RO to the slave device; sending a separate request for the first parent RO to the slave device; and receiving the first child RO from the slave device and receiving the first parent RO from the slave device, and wherein the playing back comprises playing back the content object using the first child RO and the first parent RO.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the master device is one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, or a content player device.
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January 13, 2006
May 15, 2012
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